Scum on top of water

RedSea_New59

New Member
Ok, so I have 7 small fish (snails and hermits) in my 35 gallon marine reef aquarium....along with several leather coral, pulsating Xenia, Hammer coral and several Zoa's. All is healthy but every 2 days, I get a film or scum on top of the water that I am not sure where it's coming from. If I stick my hand in the water, it also leaves a brownish film om my arm. When I net it out of the tank, it's ok for a day or so...then comes back. This pic is not great but gives you an idea. Any thoughts on what this might be?
 

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Robert_ellis

New Member
I know I've got it on every tank. The way to get rid of it is to position your power heads to move the water on the top so it goes into overflow and gets filtered or skimmed out.

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DaveK

Well-Known Member
This is a bacteria and/or algae film. It's generally harmless, but it does block some of the gas exchange.

You can use a powerhead to break it up, but a better solution is to use a surface skimming device to remove it. Many protein skimmers can also do this function.

You can also rmove the surface film manually, using a paper towel. Just lay it on top of the film and lift it out by the edge.
 
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